Firstlady36

I was wondering what are your thoughts on the extended warranty... Did most of you opt for the extended warranty? If so, how much was it about? Do you feel its worth it?

montreal-uk

Not yet. The standard warranty here is 80K / 4 years. The extended was another $2000 (may actually have been more than that, but I am going of of memeory, which is failing me as I can not remember what it took it too - 6 years and 120K rings bells, but....). To put the extended part on later was the same price plus $200 for an "inspection". Thought I would see how the car goes for a few years first, then add it on later if I think it will be needed or if it will help the sale of the car on the second hand market.
I plan on keeping it for 7+ years, all being well.

RedRover

Same thought process as Montreal-uK. Also looking to keep it 7 years which is what I have done with the last 3 cars.

One thing I would look at is the equip level of your car.
More stuff=more chance of failure

I "think" the price for the extended warranty is the same regardless of the equip level.

So a loaded GLK@50k w/2K warranty is one thing.
My Base GLK@34k w/2K is another.........

mr.mbenz

I purchased mine at time of deal. They offered a discount and was happy with it. Good for resale too. Since this is my 1st MB and 1st German car, I wanted to make sure I am in good hands for some time. Another insurance warranty was purchased for the Keys as well.

MBRedux

Total waste of money..... really it is.

slk55er

One thing to note WRT resale: I'm not sure about this, but although the extended warranty is transferable to a private party upon resale, apparently, if you trade to a dealer, the extended warranty may not be of value 'cause the dealer cannot transfer it and there is no refund for the unused time of the warranty.

Perhaps, I was mislead, but when I traded my SLK55 for my CLS550 to dealer, this was the case. I got no compensation or trade value for the remaining extended warranty on the trade-in vehicle.

Daysoffiride

I know one thing....

When you are out of your warranty, it is open season on you..... the repair of even a window switch will cost an arm and a leg... Repairs to ANY drivetrain part will cost you dearly.... Likely thousands... an air conditioning compressor?, you don't want to know.... Cars like this I would not own out of the warranty period... PERIOD

NONE of my vehicles I would have without a warranty... Those days are gone.... An old 74 Chevy pick-up, OK, no problem, but now, forget it... The manufacturers work under a different business model... It's called, get you later!!!!

If you piece together a few repairs, and little ones at that, you have most likely got your monies worth from the extended warranty... And, you will still have some piece of mind... what's that worth?


With all the electrical switches, servos, motors, electronics etc., I would never go without one.... That's the stuff that will kill you... I have already had it in for service on the sunroof, rear tailgate mechanism, Sirius unit, Molding issue, Air conditioner stink problem, and a few other things... and it's brand new!!!! Just you wait....

Shak59

I honestly don't want to shell out the money for one hoping that the quality is good enough to where I won't need it.

Daysoffiride

Good luck with that philosophy....

Shak59

yeah, key word: hoping.

Firstlady36

Good Point Daysoffiride....

I'm feeling that too Shak59....


Tell me, does the Extended Warranty kick in after the four years of the the manufacturer (75,000 )expires? or does it run concurrently?

The last time I got an Extended Warranty, it began the same day I drove the car home. After four years, the car wasn't covered by the Extended or manufacturers. Apparently, the Extended (Infiniti) was in place to make up the difference of what wasn't covered by the manufacturers. Is this the case?

Also.......

has anyone gotten an Extended Warranty from an outside vendor other than MB? Pros --- Cons

NYCGLK

what he said

Just put 3-4 grand in the bank account for future repairs.

Also insurance companies offer extended warranty for fraction of the cost. The catch is you have to stay with the same insurance company for 7 years (length of the warranty) and it's not transferable. But one from Geico was 80-100 bux per year, so about 700 bux total.

MBRedux

X1 We have an ARF or Auto Repair Fund earning excellent interest.... I started it back in 1986 with $25/week.... currently it has over $22,000.00 in it. If we need to make repairs, that's where we go, not some stupid *rip-off* company that will fight you tooth & nail over every little thing rather than fix your car correctly!

And if our cars don't need *major* repairs before we retire.... that money is ours to use any which way we desire... like a nice cruise... you think these companies will return your money if you don't file any claims before the clock runs out?

Marcos51

After owning a used 1998 ML320, I personally will never own another high-end German car out of warranty, as repairs can get extremely expensive. For example, my ML needed one rear strut. Except you can't replace just a strut. It's an entire assembly with a rear axle, a spring and a strut in one piece - AND, of course you need to do both sides. So right there, you're into about 2 grand. True, you have an entire new rear end, ready to go another 100K, but it's still expensive. Yes, I guess if you start putting $100/month into an "auto fund" during the MB warranty period, you may well beat the odds and have the money left when you're done. Are you disciplined enough to do that? If you are, I think it sounds like a very sensible idea.

dwlovell

I have bought some extended warranties in the past when the cost was less than 5% of the vehicle. The ext. warranty on the GLK in the US is unfortunately 4500$ which is WAY too much. Just save that money and spend it when you need the repair.

In my experience the only real positive to having a mfr warranty is if your dealer's repair shop is shady. One prior car I had of a different make tried to charge me 1600$ for a oil leak because they said it would require an entire engine rebuild with many hours of labor to replace the gasket, etc. Then I announce I have that make's full ext. warranty. Suddenly the repair is done in 2 hours and they charged the warranty company about 210$ total for parts and labor.

I am hoping this is NOT a common practice with Mercedes.

Shak59

That would really suck. It was about a year ago when I thought about having auto fund for maintainence such as brakes, oil chances, tires, etc. Because that money coming out hurts for some reason when its for the car.

I will be setting around 50-100 per month for that from now on. Direct deposit from my paycheck. I wonder if I should do 50 or 100? Opinions? I guess it wouldn't hurt to put more, but still...

Firstlady36

Wow, $4500 upfront..... I think I will do the car fund... I presently have $500 a month coming out of my check going into a reg savings acct, I'll up it to include a car fund..

$4500 up front when you won't need the service for another 4 years seems tough to swallow...

So the extended warranty kicks in after the manufact is over in four years? Then how long does the extended warranty cover?

Marcos51

I think you should get it clearly in writing from your dealer exactly when the warranty kicks in. Doesn't make much sense if it runs together with the regular MB warranty, does it? One more thing about these things that I don't think has been mentioned is that the extended warranty is not necessarily identical to the factory warranty. In other words, some things may not even be covered, like the main computer module, for example. Another reason for putting away for a car fund as opposed to the warranty.

NYCGLK

MB warranty is sneaky (prolly every warranty is). It kicks in after manufacturers warranty runs out and works fine if you put about 10k miles a year evenly. 4 year/40k is regular and say you get another 3 year/30k extended. Now say you put 50k in 3 years and something brakes. Your regular warranty ran out (based on mileage) so repair would be covered by the extended warranty, so far so good. But now your extended warranty is running. So now let's say you put only 15k miles in the next 3 years and something brakes, sorry your extended warranty ran out (3 years has passed since the first claim). So you have 6 year old car with 65k miles and no warranty, even tho you'd think you are covered for 7 years and 70k miles (or 100k miles depending on your option).

mr.mbenz

Good Idea Marcos

However, here in Canada the warranty is about 2.8K CAD,
so how can the US charge 4.5? What are they covering extra, that we up North are not?

Warranty is a 50/50 gamble, no matter how you slice it. For me, it's a peace of mind, and great resale value if needed. Nothing more. I know warranty can be deceiving, but in my line of profession, I have seen folks who have used their warranty at least 2 times over and have not had to pay anything out of their pocket during repairs. Putting up a fund, is great. BUT remember, you have to factor in the actual cost of repair, plus parts, plus taxes.... my 2 cents.

MBRedux

There is a full report on extended warranties in this month's Consumer Reports. Bottom line.... not worth it... stay away.

mr.mbenz

MBRedux, I'd be careful in stating to say "stay away" as if someone is to make a decision and something happens, you would not want to be blamed for it...

mac911

One nice thing about a warranty is little bits nagging at you, you go ahead and get taken care of.

Whereas if it's out of warranty, you just keep putting off the little things, and they never get done.

MBRedux

"Be careful"? Read my post again... It's the conclusion or "bottom line" of Consumer Reports' article on the topic of warranty extensions... I'm just agreeing with it.... these scams really do suck and aren't worth the paper they're written on. Anyone who bought into these scams deservers what they get.... and the leading Consumer Advocacy Group agrees with me in their June 2010 issue!

Either way, I think your warning is very weak and completely ridiculous... this is a public forum where opinions fly around like flies on road kill... if people decide to do things based on these forums, that's THEIR decision to make and no one elses... no court will think otherwise....

Now if you disagree with my opinion about extended warranties, then state it.

mac911

What sucks is when I buy extended warranties, I don't use them.

When I don't buy them, something happens 1 month after warranty. Same for computers, cars, phones, etc. of mine.